The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring substrates between a loading of such substrates and a processing station wherein a loading section is provided as part of the processing apparatus in which a transport robot is moved lengthwise along the length of a loading section. The invention hence resides in an improvement in such a processing apparatus whereby the loading section has a reduced footprint thereby providing for greater utilization of the workspace clean room.
The method of the present invention relates generally to material transfer devices. The material transfer might conclude but not be limited to semiconductor wafers, such as silicone and gallium arsenide, semiconductor packaging substrates such as high density interconnects HDI, semiconductor manufacturing processing imaging plates, such as masks or recticles, and large area display panels, such as activate matrix LCD substrates.
The need for high throughput transport devices which can move a substrate or workpiece between remote locations within highly confined areas as defined by a limited footprint, such as found in facilities where the manufacturer of wafers or panels used in the semiconductor industry are in high demand. This is because in the process of manufacturing, not just in the semiconductor industry, the need to move a workpiece from one position to the next not only requires a high throughput rate, but also accuracy of repeatability of placement of workpieces in registration at predetermined orientation on a supporting surface. Still a further constraint is to fabricate a positioning machine which is capable of working in a clean room environment where the distance of particulates is minimized if not nonexistent. In such clean room environments, floor space is at a premium.
Copending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/044,820 entitled Method of Transferring Substrates With Two Different Substrate Holding End Effectorsxe2x80x9d discloses a substrate processing apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 1. As is typical, the apparatus indicated generally as 10 in that application comprises a treatment section 11 and a substrate loading section 13. The treatment section 11 generally comprises a robot transport mechanism 12, substrate processing modules 14 connected to a main chamber 15 and load locks 16. The treatment section 11 may be any one of a number of substrate treatment sections well known in the art. As seen in FIG. 2, it should be seen that the loading section 13 generally comprises a frame 20, a substrate stocker 24, two cassette load ports 26, 26, two substrate cassette door removers 28, 28 four buffer cassettes b1, b2, b3 and b4, a substrate aligner 30 and a substrate transport robot 32. The stocker 24 is adapted to hold a plurality of substrate sets or capsules, each cassette has a housing which can individually support substrates therein. However, one drawback with such a system is that the inclusion of all these elements on the frame, causes the footprint of the device to be sizable, even taken relative to other components in the system. As previously stated, there is a premium placed on the area where such throughput transport devices operate, because such areas are highly confined and require machines to have a limited footprint.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a device which is capable of moving substrates between a wafer carrier and a main transport chamber using a small footprint design.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a device of the aforementioned type which is capable of automatic transport of substrates from one location to another.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a device of the aforementioned type wherein substrates carried by the device are moved with a high degree of accuracy and precision.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following disclosure and the appended claims.
The invention resides in an apparatus for moving substrates between a loading of such substrates and a working chamber and comprises a frame and a loading station connected to the frame and having at least two loading locations wherein the plurality of substrates may be supplied or received in stacked form therein. A plurality of load locks are provided at a second station located each directly oppositely one of the locations at the loading station and corresponding in number to the locations at the loading station. The loading station and the second station being disposed oppositely of one another along a given line of separation. A substrate handling means is disposed between the loading and the second stations for picking up and moving one or a plurality of ones of the substrates between the loading and second stations. The substrate handling means includes a linear positioning mechanism movable along a track of given width for positioning the handling means along the given line, and the loading and second stations being separated from one another substantially only by the given width of the linear positioning mechanism.